(06-Dec-2018, 05:47 AM)Krohsis Wrote: Lol....you're a funny dude, Snow.  You do entertain me.....too bad you're so far away.  We could have a beer and chat.

When I start having range problems, I might have to get me one of those must have VNA devices. 

So far I'm out to 5 miles with 99 LQ at 500mW, doesn't look like I need one yet.  And the wing guys are out 12+ miles with similar LQ, in the mid 90s.  Battery life and video signal are more of an issue than RX for me with a quad.

I look forward to your first long range with your homemade antenna.  I expect you to set new records.   

Nah...I won't be doing long range stuff any time soon, if ever  So I can continue being an armchair expert on this particular subject matter

Some commentary and comments on a couple of the videos I saw did actually state that unless you're going out 5-10k then you don't really need to worry about perfectly tuned antennas anyway because even badly tuned ones will still work well enough for most people under a 5k range. It seems that only when you start pushing the boundaries do you really need to start getting OCD about the sub millimetre accuracy on the length. None of this stuff is going to make any real difference to me personally anyway. I just happen to find reading about it quite fascinating

(06-Dec-2018, 10:40 AM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: Some commentary and comments on a couple of the videos I saw did actually state that unless you're going out 5-10k then you don't really need to worry about perfectly tuned antennas anyway because even badly tuned ones will still work well enough for most people under a 5k range. It seems that only when you start pushing the boundaries do you really need to start getting OCD about the sub millimetre accuracy on the length. 

That's true and you only need to look as far as your VTX antenna.  The VTX antenna is tuned to 5800Mhz, but operates outside that in what are small sections of frequency called channels.  And that is a pretty wide frequency span.  But that's why not all channels on your VTX are equal.  The closer to the base frequency the better performance.  And because a VTX antenna is a transmitting antenna, if you build one of your own you need to be more cognizant of SWR, etc. than a receive only antenna like the RX. 

You will have to be WAY OUT past 5-10K before you worry about having high attention to detail on your RX antenna build that test equipment becomes necessary.  More like 30+Km based on what I've seen with the wing guys running homemade antennas.

Instalments #3 & #4 of this FrSky R9 antenna debacle...